Research Library

About

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s Library is a branch of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and contains more than 80,000 volumes, including books, periodicals, catalogs, and trade literature dating from the fifteenth through the twentieth centuries. About 30% of the collection including all rare book materials are maintained on site.

Volumes cover American and European design and decorative arts with concentrations in architecture, graphic design, interior design, ornamental patterns, furniture, wallcoverings, textiles, metalwork, glass, ceramics, and jewelry. The library’s special collections include early editions on design process; sample books and works on materials; and resources on material culture.

Special Collections

Edward F. Caldwell Lighting Collection

The 13,000 drawings and more than 50,000 photographs contained in the Edward F. Caldwell Lighting Collection clearly document taste and style in the United States in the affluent 1890s. During this period, when European models defined what was beautiful or tasteful, Edward F. Caldwell and Victor F. von Lossberg founded Caldwell & Company, designers of custom lighting fixtures in New York. The company created lighting and decorative ironwork for many private homes and prominent buildings in New York City, including Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and the Waldorf-Astoria. With his friend Stanford White, who helped him establish his successful career, Caldwell catered to the most privileged people, creating lighting for the Andrew Carnegie mansion (now the home of the National Design Museum) and the 1902 Taft White House. The company became the foundry for Tiffany & Company.

Thérèse M. Bonney Collection

A collection of 4,300 rare and unique photographs that document architecture and design in Paris, 1925-39. The collection includes images of window display and design marketing, industrial design -lighting & furniture, architecture, and interior design. It also includes other applied arts such as porcelain, textiles, costumes, and wallpaper.